The Green Bay Packers have been blessed with great quarterback play for the last 25 years with the presence of Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. But under Rodgers last year the Packers’ offense was in shambles. After losing wide receiver Jordy Nelson in the preseason the Packers’ offense was never close to being even good. It was a shocking drop off from the unit that led the NFL in scoring the year before.
What I wonder is how much of that was drop-off should be put on Rodgers. While Rodgers did manage a 92.7 quarterback rating, which, isn’t horrible, it still was the worst of his career. Funny, Rodgers’ worst year is still better than Jay Cutler’s best year. But I digress. The Packers’ offense was so hard to watch you could have had a lot more fun dropping a few coins at a Betfair Casino.
So why did Rodgers struggle so in much in 2015? I think the reasons are plentiful. First off head coach Mike McCarthy way overreacted to the 2014 NFC Championship Game loss in Seattle. He basically demoted himself by giving Tom Clements play-calling duties last off-season in a move that turned out to be an abject failure.
Then losing Nelson to injury in the preseason shocked the team. And Clements had no clue what to do to overcome such a loss. Add to that a fat Eddie Lacy, no play making tight end and a banged up offensive line and you have the worst offense of the McCarthy era.
But I think Rodgers is more to blame than anybody else. There is no way a player of Rodgers stature should have let the loss of one player turn the offense into the disgrace it was last year. The mark of an MVP is making players around you better, and Rodgers failed miserably at that last year. For some reason there is such a thing of ‘earning Aaron’s trust’ that must be achieved before you can play for or get a pass thrown to you. Hard to be productive when you don’t have any faith in your teammates.
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Apparently Clements bought in to that as well as the Packers’ offense became completely predictable and afraid to take chances. Not having Lacy being the bulldog you can count on certainly hurt, but I have never seen Rodgers so afraid to throw the ball, not even in his first season as a starter when he held the ball forever.
Not only did Rodgers not trust anybody other than Randall Cobb, he openly complained about it to the media. Being the bane that is being Favre’s successor, I can’t help but compare the two and for sure Brett never was afraid to throw to anybody. He handled that situation entirely different than Rodgers does. Favre would say no problem, Rodgers says no ball.
Bottom line is I think Rodgers was the reason the Packers’ struggled last year. I also think Rodgers will be the reason the Packers may be top contenders to win the Super Bowl this year. Since he has been available to the media this off-season I have noticed a completely different attitude from him. He is in complete damage control mode and seems to be trying to put the rumors that he and his Hollywood wife want out of Green Bay to rest.
That new attitude and with McCarthy running the offense again bodes well for the upcoming season. 2015 was a horrible year yet the Packers still made the playoffs and came with an overtime period of returning the NFC Championship Game.
This is a big season for Rodgers. With Brett Hundley waiting in the wings, Rodgers can’t afford another off year.